Nate Diaz Earns Submission Over McGregor at UFC 196

With less than two weeks notice, Nate Diaz stunned fans at UFC 196 on Saturday night (March 5)… by submitting Conor McGregor.

After trading shots in the first round, Diaz caught McGregor with big right hand in the second round that wobbled his opponent… and he pounced. After pushing him up against the cage and landing some big shots, McGregor initiated a takedown… and it was Diaz who took advantage and would eventually get the full mount. After reigning down bombs, McGregor turned, prompting Diaz to get his back, put him in the rear-naked choke and that was all she wrote.

“The new baddest motherf*cker is right here,” Diaz said after the fight, bloodied face and all, before praising McGregor.

Conor seemed shell-shocked after the fight, but praised his opponent. “I took the chance going at 170 but Nate came in. I felt I took him in the first, but I didn’t utilize my energy efficiently,” he said. “I’m humble in victory and in defeat. I respect Nate. It is what it is. I’ll face it like a man.”

Diaz, 30, improves to 19-10 and earned arguably the biggest win of his career, while McGregor suffered his first loss since 2010 and now has a professional record of 19-3.

Earlier in the evening, Miesha Tate pulled out an upset of now-former UFC women’s champ, Holly Holm, submitting her via rear-naked choke in the fifth and final round. Holm didn’t tap… she was put to sleep.